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X-MEN: The Animated Series, Volume 5 Review

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 | Posted by Fernando Caire

The X-men were one of my favorite shows as a child next to Batman: The animated series and I never missed an episode. It tackled some rather serious issues and had such a gripping narrative, I couldn’t help but fall in love with it. Society ignorantly rallying against those who were different, teenagers going through a dramatic change in their lives, and where humanity stood on what lines should be crossed for public safety. Of course being a kid I only cared about wolverine ripping off Sentinels heads with his Adamantium claws. But as an adult I can look back and appreciate the shows attempt, and success delivering a cartoon series with depth and seriousness that actually respected its young audience and did not treat them like naive children. That being said, I want to punch this dvd in the face.

This is the fifth and final volume of the x-men series from Buena Vista entertainment. So why do I hate this dvd? It is not the content, since I love the show so much, but because none of the episodes are in the correct order. I did some research and it seems the geniuses at Buena Vista released volumes three, four, and five, in the order of their air dates, not the correct production order. So there end up being huge gaps in the story on each dvd that can only be found on one of the dvds. For example the episode “No Mutant is an Island” can be found on Volume five, the next episode should be “Obsession” but instead “Longshot” is next on the disc. “Obsession” can be found on Volume three. So let me get this straight, I need to research exactly what order the episodes go in, and constantly change out the dvds to watch one of my favorite series with the proper consistency? Epic Fail.

-Wait, Jean is back but the episodes explaining how are not included on this disc? *insert rage*

It feels the show was not given the proper DVD release it deserves. In fact this feels like one big insult to fans, even the cover bothers me since it features Captain America. I understand he makes a guest appearance on one episode, but that is no reason to make him the focus on an X-men DVD. In fact the only 2 X-men on the cover are Professor X and Wolverine. Other than the unorganized episodes there isn’t much else as far as extras go either except for a few Disney movie trailers.

To be fair though the episodes are all very enjoyable and look fantastic. The guest appearance of Captain America in a flash back Wolverine has was loads of fun. Also being a fantasy nerd I got a kick out of the “Jubilee’s Fairy Tale Theatre” where Jubilee is telling a story to a group of children. The characters she describes are inspired by the mutants in her life. Seeing Wolverine as a troll, her as a mage, and Gambit as a rogue is fantastic.

-Welcome to D&D: X-men Edition

One of the prized possessions in my dvd collection is the Batman: The animated series boxed set. It contains the entire series (each dvd loaded with interviews, making of, and behind the scene features) as well as a beautiful case and art book. Marvel needs to take a note from DC on this one and release the entire X-men series in a way that fans deserve. We want an X-men set that collects all episodes , in the correct order if that is not too much to ask for, not this 5 volume, 2 disc,mixed up, nonsense. I love the episodes themselves but the fact that I can’t follow the story without switching out the dvds is frustrating. This DVD is a bit of a let down to me as a fan and I certainly hope they release something better in the future. I give it a 7/10.